How can I be a good Jedi when I know so little about them father Despite Leia’s apparent lack of interest Luke believed it was important for him to find out more about the life of Anakin Skywalker How can I know myself if I never really knew my He had no idea whether gaining such knowledge would make him feel wiser or more fulfilled All he knew was that he still felt alone and out of place just as he’d felt when he was a little boy growing up on a desolate moisture farm in the desert wastes of Tatooine 4
CHAPTER ONE Is someone seeing me Aunt Beru Luke asked Beru Lars was standing in her kitchen making biscuits She glanced at the four-year-old boy her husband’s husband’s stepbrother’s son who sat on the hard white steps that led up to the dining alcove and said Your aunt Dama will be seeing all of us She should be here any time now Luke frowned No I don’t mean Aunt Dama I mean is someone watching me Beru smiled You’re right here with me so I’m watching you The boy shook his head No Not you or Uncle Owen I mean someone else Someone I can’t see Beru almost dropped the spoon she had just picked up She set the spoon down beside a bowl with a gray mixture in it and tried to keep her voice calm as she asked What makes you say that Luke 5
Luke was holding a small toy landspeeder As he turned the toy over in his hands he said I just felt like someone else was close by I thought maybe there was somebody behind me but when I looked up the steps He turned his head to look back toward the dining alcove then returned his gaze to his aunt No one’s there Beru sighed Living far from other folks like we do it’s not unusual to get a bit jumpy You feel a small shift in the air or hear a slight noise and your imagination imagination starts playing tricks on you Really Luke said But I didn’t hear the wind or anything this time Beru gripped the edge of the kitchen counter to steady herself She said There’s been other times you thought someone else was watching Sometimes when I play outside Luke said And every time we go into Anchorhead Beru stepped away from the counter to kneel down beside Luke Gripping his upper arms gently she said Luke this is important You’ve never ever actually seen any man watching you have you Luke cocked his head sideways as he held his aunt’s gaze You think it’s a man Beru shook her head No sorry I didn’t mean to say that I meant anyone any person You’ve never noticed anyone Luke shook his head No ma’am 6
Just then they heard the sound of a landspeeder engine drift down outside and Uncle Owen bellowed Beru Your sister’s here Beru’s eyes flicked to the dining cove then back to Luke She said I think it’s best that we don’t mention any of this to your uncle This feeling you get sometimes sometimes it might worry him You know how he is about strangers and trespassers And we don’t want to worry Uncle Owen do we No ma’am Luke said So it’s only a feeling There’s no one really watching me That’s right Beru said Now come on let’s go greet your aunt Dama Luke got up clutching his toy landspeeder in his hand The Lars homestead on Tatooine consisted of various various underground rooms that branched off a deep steep-walled open pit that was the central courtyard Beru took Luke’s free hand and led him out across the courtyard up a flight of steps along the pit’s wall and then up through an enclosed stairway It was a long climb for a little boy but Luke didn’t complain He said Aunt Dama has a new landspeeder How do you know that Beru asked Before Uncle Owen called you I heard the engine coming It sounds less rumbly than the old one The enclosed stairway delivered them to the arched doorway of the homestead’s pourstone entry dome As 7
